When to Plant Calendula in Spirit Lake, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant calendula is to look at the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake.


Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant calendula a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant calendula
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant calendula
Probably not a good time to plant calendula

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Spirit Lake is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calendula and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calendula may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your calendula indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Spirit Lake. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Spirit Lake is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Spirit Lake last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your calendula if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spirit Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Spirit Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Spirit Lake.